Death by Cop- 2022
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Benjamin E. Chase
Case # :621
Gender : Male
Age : 21
Race : Black
Date : 05/08/2022
Location : Unknown
City : Excelsior Springs
County : Clay
State : Missouri
Agency : Excelsior Springs PD
Officer(s) :Not Disclosed
Cause of Death : Overdose death in custody
Event : Killed by police during arrest
Disposition : Officers cleared
Open Records Summary :
Excelsior Springs Police officers arrested Chase after a brief foot chase. They allege that Chase charged at the officers. An officer fired a Taser. Chase refused further treatment, and officers transported him to the jail at the Excelsior Springs Police Department, where he was placed on a 48-hour hold. ESPD staff found him unresponsive in his cell at 3:01 p.m. May 8 and called an ambulance. Paramedics pronounced Chase dead at the scene. Chase’s cause of death was reportedly methamphetamine intoxication and his manner of death was ruled an accident. The family’s lawyer strongly disputes the police narrative, pointing out that he died more than 24 hours after arrest, making it virtually impossible for his death to have been the very late sudden result of a drug overdose due to the length of time he had been in custody before he died. His cause of death was suspected to be due to the Taser or other injury.